Thursday's Daily Pulse

What you need to know about Florida today

| 3/21/2013

Legislators look to private insurers to expand Medicaid

A panel of Florida lawmakers today is taking up a privatized alternative to Medicaid expansion that could result in as many as one million low-income Floridians qualifying for the first time for subsidized health-care coverage. The plan is the Legislature's first attempt under the Affordable Care Act to look at a way to insure people who are poor, but not poor enough to qualify for existing Medicaid coverage. Read more form the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the Times/Herald and see our Legislative Roundup below:

When a Falcon 20 commercial jet flying over Canada’s capital city of Ottawa recently logged the first-ever civilian flight powered by 100% renewable biofuel, the trip marked a triumphant conclusion to six years of research at the Panama City offices of Applied Research Associates. Full story...

Sugar cooperative completes its harvest

The Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida has just wrapped up its 2012-2013 harvest, producing the seventh-largest crop in its 51-year history. The 46-member cooperative headquartered in Belle Glade produced more than three million tons of sugar cane grown on 68,373 acres, primarily in Palm Beach County. That resulted in 363,514 tons of raw sugar and 16.7 million gallons of blackstrap molasses. [Source: Palm Beach Post]

Florida campaign for medical marijuana gets financial backers

Two top Democratic fundraisers in Florida have committed to providing the money and know-how to get the question of legalizing medical marijuana on the state ballot in 2014. By law, the campaign needs to collect signatures of almost 700,000 registered voters to get a constitutional amendment legalizing medical marijuana on the ballot in November 2014. [Source: Reuters]

Do's and Don'ts of Florida house-hunting

If you have been watching the Florida property market this past year and you no longer know what to believe, you’re not alone. Half the reports say the market has bottomed and prices are rising, while half are more pessimistic and say prices are still dropping. Read more from A Place In The Sun Magazine and Florida Link.

› Scrabble teams help kids get ready for FCAT[Ocala Star-Banner] Dressed in black Shady Hill Elementary shirts, the Scrabble team known as the Word Racers marched into the Sparr Elementary library ready to get their words on. It was the first sanctioned Scrabble competition in the School District, a friendly game officials hope will help boost vocabulary of fourth- and fifth-graders.